Marlins outfield prospect Dillon Head will endure season-ending surgical procedure hip surgical procedure, Isaac Azout of Fish On First experiences. Extra particularly, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com experiences that Head would require a left femoral acetabular impingement process. He’s anticipated to renew baseball actions in roughly three months, per Azout, although that mid- or late-September return to baseball exercise received’t give him adequate time to ramp again as much as recreation motion earlier than the common season concludes.
Head, 19, was the centerpiece of the early-season commerce that despatched Luis Arraez from Miami to San Diego. He appeared in solely 5 video games in Miami’s system this yr — three shortly after the commerce and one other two following a prolonged IL stint — and can now lose the rest of the season rehabbing from this surgical procedure.
In 104 plate appearances with the Padres’ Class-A membership previous to the commerce, Head slashed .237/.317/.366 with a homer and three steals (albeit in seven makes an attempt). He was inactive for ten days following the commerce, then appeared in simply three Class-A video games with the Fish earlier than touchdown on the injured listing. Head went 4-for-12 with a triple and two steals in that transient look.
A primary-round decide (No. 25 general) out of Illinois’ Homewood-Flossmoor Group Excessive College simply final summer time, Head is seen as a speed- and contact-oriented outfielder whose wheels might assist him develop right into a plus heart discipline defender as he continues to hone his reads. MLB.com ranks him fifth amongst Miami farmhands and credit him with true 80-grade pace. FanGraphs lists him third in Miami’s system behind Max Meyer and 2023 first-rounder Noble Meyer (who was chosen 15 picks previous to Head in that draft).
Head was already seen as a long-term growth play on the time of the commerce given his youth, and the lack of nearly his whole age-19 season will solely additional that chance. He’ll flip 20 in October and can enter the 2024 season with simply 37 profession video games and 177 plate appearances on the Class-A degree. Presumably, he’ll head again to Class-A Jupiter to open the 2024 season (well being allowing) and work his approach up the minor league ladder. An enormous league debut in 2025 doesn’t really feel practical, however late within the 2026 season or some level within the 2027 season he might feasibly be prepared for a glance within the majors.
